Good to know before your trip — Switzerland

In many countries, you can buy a vignette for just a few days if you are only passing through briefly. Switzerland offers no such option — even if you drive on the motorway for a single day, you need the same annual vignette as someone travelling for the whole year. Every motor vehicle and trailer not subject to the heavy vehicle charge must have a valid vignette to use motorways and expressways. Swiss law provides only for an annual vignette, with no short-term alternatives. The vignette for one calendar year is valid from 1 December of the preceding year to 31 January of the following year — a total of 14 months. Motorcycles require their own vignette, and a trailer or caravan requires a separate one, except for trailers towed by a motorcycle. The vignette is available either as an electronic version linked to the vehicle's registration plates, or as a physical sticker attached to the vehicle. Driving on a motorway without a valid vignette carries a fine, and the driver must also purchase a vignette on the spot. Check the current price and fine amount on the official website of the Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) before you set off.

Searching for the Swiss vignette online brings up a large number of websites selling it. Not all of them are official, and the difference only becomes apparent when you see the bill. The Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) sells the e-vignette through its official shop at via.admin.ch and charges no additional fee whatsoever. Third-party resellers are permitted to sell the e-vignette with a surcharge — the BAZG confirms this is allowed — meaning you may end up paying more for the exact same product. Due to the risk of online fraud, the BAZG recommends purchasing only from trusted retailers. The e-vignette is tied to the vehicle registration plate, not to the vehicle itself, so double-check the plate number and country of registration before completing your payment. Transfer to a different plate is only possible if both the vehicle and its owner remain the same, and refunds are granted only in exceptional cases, such as proven duplicate purchases. If you are renting a vehicle, ask at pick-up whether it already has a valid vignette. Buy yours before you set off, as driving on a Swiss motorway without one is not permitted from the very first kilometre.

In Swiss cities, many parking spaces have no pay machine, which can give the impression that parking is free and unrestricted. In blue-marked spaces, parking is indeed free of charge, but it is limited in duration. Blue-marked spaces form the blue zone. From Monday to Saturday, between 8 am and 7 pm, parking there is restricted and requires a parking disc displayed behind the windscreen. The disc is not set to the exact time of arrival, but to the next mark on the dial, and the table on the disc shows how long you may stay: for most of the day this is one to one and a half hours, with a longer allowance around midday. If you park from 6 pm onwards, the disc remains valid until 9 am on the next working day, and after 7 pm you do not need the disc at all, provided you move the vehicle before 8 am. On Sundays and public holidays, the restriction applies only if stated on the supplementary sign below the main sign. A white marking indicates general parking subject to the rules shown on the sign or pay machine, while a yellow marking is reserved for a specific category of users.

Travellers often buy bottled water out of habit. In Switzerland, this is generally unnecessary, though there is one useful rule to know when it comes to public fountains. According to the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO/BLV), drinking water in Switzerland is of high quality and ranks among the most strictly controlled foodstuffs in the country, with cantonal laboratories overseeing the water supply. This means you can drink tap water in your hotel, apartment or restaurant without boiling or filtering it, and you can refill your water bottle throughout the day. Be more cautious with public fountains, however: not every fountain provides drinking water. In Lucerne, for example, the city designates only some of its fountains as public drinking fountains. If a fountain bears a sign indicating that the water is not for drinking, do not drink from it. Mountain springs and streams are not subject to the same quality controls.

In some countries, tickets can be purchased from the conductor. On Swiss trains, a valid ticket must be obtained before departure. Under Swiss public transport rules, passengers must hold a valid ticket before their train actually departs. Tickets are not generally sold on board. Anyone travelling without a valid ticket pays the fare plus a surcharge, which increases if the offence is repeated. On buses, the rule varies by area: on PostBus services, tickets can generally still be purchased from the driver, except in the Zurich area and in the canton of Graubünden, while in the canton of Ticino sales are transitioning to digital terminals by the end of 2027. On Zurich city transport, you must always buy your ticket before boarding. Purchase your ticket via the SBB Mobile app, at a ticket machine at the station, or at a sales point. If you buy through the app, the purchase must be completed before departure; a ticket bought while the train is already moving is not valid. Surcharge amounts are published by Alliance SwissPass and are subject to change.

Your phone works in Switzerland just as it does everywhere else in Europe, so it is easy to forget that this country is not part of the European Union. Mobile data can therefore be charged under entirely different terms than in EU member states. The 'roam like at home' rule applies to customers of operators from EU countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Moldova and Ukraine, when travelling within that zone. Switzerland is not part of that zone, so your operator's own terms and tariffs apply — not the European rules. Some operators do include Switzerland in their packages, but that is their own commercial decision, not a legal obligation. Before you depart, check with your operator how much mobile data costs in Switzerland and activate a roaming package if one is available. If you are only passing through Switzerland, turn off mobile data or use Wi-Fi until you have confirmed the terms.

If you are travelling with food — cured meat, cheese, dairy products — the rules at the Swiss border depend on where the products come from. The Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO/BLV) distinguishes between products from EU countries and those from elsewhere. Products of animal origin for personal use are permitted if they come from EU member states, Iceland, Northern Ireland, or Norway. From all other countries, travellers may not bring in products containing meat, meat preparations, offal, milk, or dairy products — including cheese and cured meat — with only a few narrow exceptions. The BLV does list exceptions: bread, chocolate, and similar meat-free products, as well as stock and flavouring preparations packaged for the end consumer; honey, eggs, and fish are permitted only in limited quantities. Food for personal use from the EU may be brought in, but customs quantity limits apply and the product must not originate from an area subject to veterinary restrictions. If in doubt, do not bring such products with you.

In an emergency there is no time to search, and Switzerland, alongside the pan-European number 112, has dedicated numbers for the police, fire brigade, and ambulance service. The European emergency number 112 works with a foreign SIM card as well as with a prepaid card that has no credit, and connects you to a police operations centre. The dedicated numbers are 117 for the police, 118 for the fire brigade, 144 for emergency medical services, and 145 for poisoning emergencies. Calls to all of these numbers are free of charge. For mountain rescue and air ambulance services there is Rega, reachable on 1414 within Switzerland and on +41 333 333 333 from abroad. That number is not free like the others, as the Swiss telecommunications regulator classifies it among chargeable service numbers, but it is the direct line to helicopter rescue. Rega also has a free app that, when you use it to call for help, automatically sends your location to its operations centre. Save these numbers in your phone before you travel.

Switzerland uses its own socket type, so it is worth checking the plugs on your devices before you travel. The voltage is 230 V at 50 Hz, as in most of Europe, so chargers and devices rated for those values will work without a converter. The difference lies in the shape: most Swiss sockets are designed for a plug with three round pins, known as Type J. The slim two-pin European plug (Type C), found on many phone chargers, does fit into Swiss sockets. For any other plug types, check the shape before you leave and bring a Swiss adapter if needed. According to the official Swiss tourism portal, adapters are available in most hotels, but if you are staying in an apartment, a campsite, or a mountain hut, do not count on it. If you are travelling with a universal travel adapter, check that it includes a Swiss attachment.